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Searching job in UAE (especially in Dubai) is really a tough ask for those who are ill prepared and not familiar with ground realities. Market demand need to be gauged before diving into this market for which latest trends and requirements needs to be analyzed.

Construction Industry jobs

At present there is a strong demand of labor especially related to construction field. Companies having expertise in construction and allied businesses need to prepare and establish themselves in UAE. The reason for expected boom is extra ordinary civil and electrical work planned for infrastructure development of Dubai for Expo 2020. This means that from 2014 we are looking at continuous six years of extra ordinary activity in construction sector. People who wish to cash this opportunity need to learn skills and acquire certifications necessary to fit themselves in such jobs.

Job skills for certified supervisors, foremen, draftsmen, welders, electricians, crane operators, heavy machine operators and drivers will be in great demand. This is to be noted that this is a good opportunity for companies in the manpower supply business as they will be getting ample orders in coming year.

Hospitality Industry jobs

This is expected that from 2014 a lot of companies will be coming to UAE to explore business opportunities. There will be extra ordinary load on travel industry as lot of meetings, seminars and activities are expected which requires regular need of hotels and apartments. UAE has a number of hospitality related avenues like hotels, hotel apartments, restaurants, rent a car, food deliveries, wellness centers, health/fitness facilities. People associated with hospitality industry need to upgrade themselves for such kind of jobs. The main preference is personality and communication skills as lot many foreigners are expected, proficiency in English is a must.

Experience of working in any renowned international chain will be an added advantage. This is expected that hospitality related job will see steep rise by the end of 2014 so there is plenty of time to prepare and get ample experience.

Security and People Management

With a lot of business activities expected, there will surely be huge demand for security personnel. Security Guards and Facility supervisors with knowledge of latest security gadgets will be needed for such jobs. Companies associated with CCTV and allied monitoring systems will be doing good business. This also means that people associated with installation and maintenance of such systems will also be in great demand. Furthermore, private security guards would be needed in large numbers in hotels, apartments, malls and in live events.

People with proper built and physique would be in great demand. Prior experience would be required to control masses in professional manner.

Due to recent worldwide recession companies are regularly replacing expensive workforce with the cheap one without compromising on quality. Especially in UAE companies even offered fresh contracts to old staff on reduced salaries which were accepted by some employees too. If you read newspaper, there are plenty of jobs but when you reach salary figure you will be disappointed.

Scenario

In this scenario, experienced workforce who is trapped in high living cost is simply packing up and leaving the country. Some preferred to stay alone and sending families back home to keep their ball rolling and are waiting for the right time.

Although the current scenario seems negative for experienced and highly educated lot, the same is ideal for new entrants. UAE is a country where standards are being followed with all procedures either automated or well documented; making it fairly easy to get going even if you are appointed for a new assignment. The salary scale is too low in some cases that only bachelor or individual can afford expensive living in UAE. This has eliminated chances of tough competition on certain job titles. During this phase companies are more interested in running current operations, instead of enhancing, planning or expanding their business.

Right Approach

Due to recent visa policy of UAE, the residence visa is for the period of two years with no NOC requirement to switch job after two years. This means that if someone joins today even on minimal salary he/she can pass this phase and wait for the completion of two years after which new and high salary job can be searched. The other reason for accepting such job is the prerequisites for high profile jobs like driving license and knowledge of places and areas with in cities. Two year is ample time to fill such gaps and understand market demands.

Hot jobs and their Pay scales

When you look at the classified ads or bigger job advertisements usually placed by hiring agents/headhunters, you will find following jobs in great numbers with fairly low salaries

1- Accounts Salary Range 1500 – 8000 Dirhams per month

2- Sales 1500 – 5000

3- Administration 2500 – 8000

4- Driving 1500 – 4000

5- Construction 1500 – 5000

6- Skilled/Unskilled Labor 1000 – 4000

7- Management 2500 – 8000

8- Information Technology 1500 – 8000

9- Teaching and Education 1000 – 3500

10- Housemaids / Servants 1000 – 2000

11- Miscellaneous 1000 – 3000

Cost of Living

The above pay scale clearly indicate the current market condition where even bigger companies know that human resource is available even on these nominal salaries. Recently companies downsized their workforce and replaced old one with the new one on fairly low packages. The question arise that whether the above pay scale is feasible to work in UAE? The answer is yes but with certain conditions.

1- If you are a bachelor or living alone in UAE – You will make it more feasible when you live in sharing accommodation readily available and advertised in all parts of UAE.

2- If you are married and your wife is also a working lady – If your kids are not school going

3- If you are living with your parents or close relatives

4- If you are living in remote or suburb areas of cities

5- If you travel on public transport only like Buses and Metro Trains

6- If you are healthy and maintain your fitness without getting into wrong habits

7- If you avoid lavish spending and strictly follow your budget

8- If you save some amount regularly to avoid any mishap or unforeseen incident

9- If you avoid using credit cards and limit your unnecessary buying and spending

10- Limit your telephone expenses

11- Last but not least, avoid penalties and fines. Even crossing road from highway/speedway can cost you 200 Dirhams fine. If you drive car then you will find radars and other speed monitoring devices that can fine you for over speeding up to 600 Dirhams in some cases means greater chunk of your salary.

Residence

There are multiple choices of residence

1- Working and Living in Dubai – Dubai is a costly city where even one room apartment will be available for around 2500/5000 Dirhams per month. For bachelors, rooms of bed space sharing options are available in various areas of Dubai. Good room in neat and clean building is about 1500 Dirhams per month, while room sharing / bed space sharing can cost you from 250 to 1000 Dirhams per month depending upon locality, persons per room and building condition.

2- The most preferred option of low income group is living in Sharjah, a city adjacent to Dubai. Sharjah has more choices of variety of real estate from luxurious to ordinary living places. The cost of living is 40% lower than Dubai in some areas. Even highly paid employees are living in Sharjah where they get double accommodation in the same price as compared to Dubai. The only problem is daily travelling between Sharjah and Dubai that becomes worse in peak hours.

3- Northern Emirates – Ajman and other cities are good for cheaper options as people move towards these cities to arrange spacious apartments for their families. You will have to add one more hour to your daily travelling if you live in Northern Emirates.

There is a simple comparison chart below that can give you proper idea of accommodation available Per annum on rentAccommodation Dubai Sharjah Ajman / North

Note: Abu Dhabi has very limited residence options with cost of living 30% more than Dubai

Transportation

Although Dubai is an expensive city but has more transport options available as compared to other emirates. Dubai is known for organized bus routes, large pool of well-maintained and punctual busses, efficient metro train and highly maintained taxis including water taxis. If you don’t have your own transport, it is better you should spend more on accommodation and live in Dubai. If you prefer travelling through public transport, then you will have to purchase a plastic card known as NOL card to travel either by bus or metro train. You can purchase if from major bus stand, metro station and Spinneys supermarkets. The minimum cost is 20 dirhams with one way travelling from approx. 2 dirhams and above. You are warned not to travel without cards or with insufficient balance to avoid heavy penalties in case of random checking of officials. All cards can be topped up at machines installed on various bus stops.

If you are living in Sharjah and doing job in Dubai then you should consider places where you can easily commute between these cities. This is to be noted that using taxi to commute between Sharjah and Dubai is not feasible as there are additional 20 Dirhams charged on each trip, which can disturb your budget. If you wish to save money and live in Sharjah then following three options are suggested to minimize your suffering.

1- Jubail Intercity Bus Station – Situated near fairly affordable community of Sharjah commonly known as Rolla. You may look for cheaper but decent accommodation around Abu Shagara and Al Qasmiya areas for easy access to Jubail Station. Following are intercity bus schedule (courtesy http://www.dubaifaqs.com )

Route

From

To

Via

First

Last

Duration

Frequency

E301

Gold Souq

Al Jubail

0630

2300

40-60 mins

30 minutes

E301

Al Jubail

Gold Souk

0600

2230

50-70 mins

30 minutes

E302

Al Karama

Rolla Sq

0645

2245

35-70 mins

30 minutes

E302

Rolla Square

Al Karama

0615

2245

50-70 mins

30 minutes

E303

Baniyas Sq Deira

Al Jubail

0600

2350

35 minutes

10 minutes

E303

Al Jubail

Baniyas Sq Deira

0530

2350

45-50 mins

10 minutes

E304

Satwa

Rolla Square

0630

2230

50-80 mins

30 minutes

E304

Rolla Square

Satwa

0630

2230

60-90 mins

30 minutes

E305

Ittihad Square

Al Jubail

0600

2350

40-50 mins

10 minutes

E305

Al Jubail

Etihad Square

0545

2355

50-70 mins

10 minutes

E306

Al Ghubaiba

Al Jubail

0600

2330

40-50 mins

10 minutes

E306

Al Jubail

Al Ghubaibah

0600

2340

50-60 mins

10 minutes

E307³

Al Muraqqabat

Al Jubail

0630

2200

30-40 mins

12-15 mins

E307³

Al Jubail

Al Muraqabat

0715

2200

40-45 mins

12-15 mins

E308

Jebel Ali main gate

Al Jubail

0715

2115

55-90 mins

1 hour

E308

Al Jubail

Jebel Ali main gate

0545

2245

75-120 mins

1 hour

E309³

Al Ittihad Sq

Al Wasit Square

0630

2210

40-60 mins

20 minutes

E309³

Al Waset Square

Al Etihad Sq

0610

2210

70-75 mins

20 minutes

E311

Al Ghusais

Al Jubail

E311

Al Jubail

Al Ghusais

Night Service

E306

Al Ghubaiba

Al Jubail

2300

2400

35 minutes

10 minutes

E306

Al Ghubaiba

Al Jubail

2400

0530

35 minutes

30 minutes

E306

Al Jubail

Al Ghubaibah

2300

2400

40 minutes

10 minutes

E306

Al Jubail

Al Ghubaibah

2400

0530

40 minutes

30 minutes

2- Living in areas inside Sharjah which are adjacent to Dubai can also save you time and money. Areas like Nahda, Taawun and Sharjah Industrial Area (Close to city border with Dubai) are available on reasonable terms for both families and bachelors. People simply walk out of Sharjah and enter into Dubai to take benefit of efficient Dubai transport system. Buses reach stops fairly regularly and punctually, ensuring timely attendance at offices. For labor class and low income group, area around National Paint Factory is well known. You may find fairly cheap but spacious accommodation in this area.

3- Third option is living on proper bus routes and near taxi stands. People often prefer parks and open spaces, but ensuring that you are near to Taxi stand and Bus stop will save you from lot of hassle. You need to ensure that your journey is limited to one or two bus change, otherwise it is better to go on taxi as there will be no difference.

The above information compiled is for better understanding and making feasibility before deciding to work in UAE. The accuracy of information can be verified from relevant websites. I hope this will help in your future and will make you a more confident job seeker/ employee in UAE.

About Me

Working as an Assistant Director in TEXPO LLC (http://www.texpo.com) a Dubai based IT Solution Company, a Microsoft Certified Partner firm. A Graduate from Univesity of Karachi and having Post Graduate Certifications from IBA, I am in the field of IT since 1989. Started my career with Computer Sales, later moved towards Software Development and Trainings. I am well versed in Software Development, Consultancy, Training and Administration. I have vast experience of conducting corporate trainings and was associated with top names like New Horizons, CTTC, KalSoft, Institute of Bankers Pakistan, IT-Track, NED University Continuing Education Dept., Beaconhouse Informatics, Soft Horizon, Webatme and alike. I am known in the market as a reputed and trusted individual.